Gold Slips as US Inflation Eases in July

Gold declined for a third straight session Tuesday as risk appetite grew, U.S. inflation eased, and the U.S. dollar firmed.

Gold for December delivery shed $2.60, or 0.2%, to end at $1,296.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"Today’s CPI number shows that inflation is not rising and you don’t need to hedge against inflation," Blake Robben, a senior market strategist at Archer Financial Services in Chicago, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "Good economic data will give Fed the confidence to raise interest rates."

The U.S. Labor Department’s monthly CPI report showed that consumer prices rose 0.1% in July after climbing 0.3% in June, and that annual US inflation rate picked up 2% compared to 2.1% previously. Still, American consumers felt the pain of higher food prices with those jumping 0.4% — the fifth month this year in which prices have advanced by at least that level. On average, they are now 2.5% higher than a year ago.

Gold prices on Tuesday ranged from an intraday low of $1,294.70 to a high of $1,303.70. Gold last finished higher on Thursday when it scored its third straight daily gain.

In other precious metals futures on Tuesday:

Silver for September delivery declined 22 cents, or 1.1%, to $19.41 an ounce, trading between $19.37 and $19.70. Silver prices in the previous session rose 11 cents.

October platinum turned down $6.70, or 0.5%, to $1,439.50 an ounce, ranging from $1,437.70 to $1,452.

Palladium for September delivery fell $14.10, or 1.6%, to $880.80 an ounce, trading between $876.60 and $897.30.

London Fix Precious Metals

Earlier fixed London precious metals were mixed. When contrasting London bullion Fix prices and the LBMA Silver Price from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:

Gold lost a quarter to $1,296.50 an ounce,

Silver added 7 cents, or 0.4%, to $19.66

Platinum declined $5, or 0.3%, to $1,443 an ounce, and

Palladium fell $2, or 0.2%, to $896 an ounce

US Mint Bullion Sales in August

U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged Tuesday as of 3:01 PM ET. American Silver Eagles did advance later in the day on Monday, up 225,000. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold last week, this week so far, last month, the month so far, and the year to date.

American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins)

Tuesday Sales

Sales Last Week

Current Sales Week

July Sales

August Sales

YTD Sales

$100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins

0

400

0

0

400

13,300

$50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins

0

3,000

0

26,000

13,000

237,500

$25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins

0

0

0

0

0

27,000

$10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins

0

0

0

6,000

2,000

80,000

$5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins

0

5,000

0

25,000

20,000

405,000

$50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins

0

500

0

5,500

4,500

121,500

$1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins

0

225,000

230,000

1,975,000

1,410,000

27,513,500

Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins

0

0

0

500

0

29,500

Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins

0

0

0

0

0

20,000

Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins

0

0

0

1,500

0

20,000

To see how inflation has changed the buying power of the U.S. dollar over time, use this site’s Inflation Calculator.

It slays me every time I hear the government say there is little or no inflation. After all, the reports are generated by those who would have to file immediate bankruptcy if interest rates were increased. Government can’t afford to pay down its debt even at 00.001% interest. And the people who generate the reports apparently don’t go to the grocery store or utilize prescription drugs and/or the health care systems in the US. When was the last time any of those items only increased by less than two percentage points over a year’s time?

Yesterday a lead media story was that over half of those facing retirement in the near term have no savings, yet with CD’s and other “safe” investment vehicles paying less than 1/10 of one percent, why should they?

Stocks are “rigged” in favor of those with insider information or access to banks of dedicated high speed computer servers. So says “60 Minutes.”

About the only thing I can come up as a safe investment with is old coins with silver content.